The History of Anime
& Manga(Created by
Marwah Zagzoug,
History 135, April 2001)

The Father of Anime
& Manga

Assignment

How has Japanese animation evolved
since World War II? Who were the people who contributed to its
change and how was it influenced by the war?

Background
on Art and Animation (Manga and Anime)

The Invasion:

Many people in the U.S.
probably heard of cartoons like Sailor Moon, Dragonball Z, Voltron,Gundam Wing, Speed Racer, Digimon, and the ever so popular Pokemon;
Famous cartoons that have bizarre character designs: female characters
with beautiful round eyes, hair that is incredibly big, and gorgeous
figure and physique. Male characters would
usually have enormously huge muscles (as seen in Dragonball Z and GT),
powerful bodies and maybe, on
occasion, have gigantic robots as seen in cartoons like Robotech and
Gundam Wing.

Where did all these cartoons come
from? To find the answer one must look no further than in Japan,
the birthplace of Japanese animation, the main source for all of this
madness.

Japanese animation, also known as
anime (pronounced "ani-may"), is a popular form of animation
in Japan which is quickly spreading in the U.S. The major
difference between anime and American cartoons is that unlike American
cartoons, which are only watched by children, anime is popular among the
Japanese adults and is watched by millions. The audience is not merely
directed to children but to teens and adults as well. The same
applies to Japanese comics known as manga.

In order to understand anime and
its invasion into the US, a look into its history would be most
appropriate. The best place to start is around World War II, since
that was the time when the anime and manga (Japanese comics) industry
evolved significantly.

During World War II the entire
Japanese nation was mobilized. The people were forced to conform
to the government's demands or pay the ultimate price. According to Frederik
Schodt's book, Manga Manga: The World of Japanese Comics, those
who failed to cooperate were punished by "preventive detention,
bans on writing, and social ostracism, while those who recanted were
rewarded with rehabilitation programs and support from the
community...artists who had spent most of their lives criticizing the
government did an about-face and offered wholehearted support to the
militarists" (Schodt, 55).

Around 1940, many
organizations for artists and cartoonists were formed. Among them
were the New Cartoonists Association of Japan (Shin Nippon Mangaka
Kyokai) and the New Cartoonists Faction Group (Shin Mangaha Shudan).
During that time, the government used the few remaining cartoonists, who
were not banned from working or who were not in the army, to influence the people
through their artwork by creating comic strips filled with propaganda to
use against the nation's enemies.

Animation in the US:

In another part of the world, an
influential artist who went by the name of Walt Disney was struggling as
a cartoonist. Long before Mickey Mouse, he started out with Alice's
Wonderland and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in the 1920s. Then
on November 16, 1928, Mickey Mouse was born and became
an instant hit in the US. Disney decided to work on other projects
and started on an animated feature film called Snow White and the
Seven Dwarfs. The film, released in 1937, was a
spectacular hit. Things went smoothly for the Disney Studio
until World War II came along. Nevertheless, Disney continued to work
and
released Pinocchio and Fantasia in 1940. Although
the two were technical masterpieces, the studio was losing a great deal
of money since they were losing the foreign market due to the war.
Disney then released Dumbo,on a very limited budget, in 1941 and
Bambi in 1942. As a result of releasing many expensive and
costly films during the war, Disney began to diminish in influence.

During the war, Walt Disney
Studios released two more films Saludos Amigos and The Three
Caballeros in South America. Throughout the war, Disney
concentrated on making propaganda and training films for the
military. After the war, Disney Studios struggled to make it
back to top
as they released several "package" films containing groups of
short cartoons packaged together. Among these films were Make
Mine Music and Melody Time. By 1950, Disney Studios
regained success with the live action film, Treasure Island,
and the animated feature, Cinderella.

With all the success, Walt Disney
felt there was still something he had not yet accomplished. It was
not until he found his intriguing attraction to amusement parks that
pushed him to build his own theme park, one that children, parent, and
people of all ages could enjoy. Thus after many years of planning,
construction, and development, Disneyland was built in 1955. It
became a monumental park that brought visitors from around the
world.

Though Disneyland kept Disney rather
busy, he, along with his studio and team, continued releasing quality
entertainment. Disney released 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,
The Shaggy Dog, the popular TV series Zorro, and Mary
Poppins. Unfortunately, the 1960s brought the end of an era:
in December 15, 1966 Walt Disney died. However, the Walt Disney
Studios managed to survive under the plans that Walt left behind and
under the guidance of his brother Roy Disney. Disney remained
under Roy's leadership with further releases of The Jungle Book in
1967, The Love Bug in 1969, and The Aristocrats in
1970. By 1971 Roy Disney died and for the next decade, the company
was led by a team who was originally trained by the Disney brothers.
The team included Card Walker, Donn Tatum, and Ron Miller.

The Master Brings Life to
Animation:

Back in Japan, after World War II, a young
aspiring artist named Osamu Tezuka became a cartoonist and released his first work Shintakarajima
(known in English as "New Treasure Island"). As a child,
Tezuka was a fanatical fan of Walt Disney's early animations. Many
were impressed by Tezuka's original style. However, it was not
until Tezuka released his ultimate work Tetsuwan Atomu (Astro Boy)
that he achieved success; he was pronounced "the Father of
Manga and Anime".

When Tezuka made a name for
himself in the industry, he managed to establish his own production
company in 1962. He formed Mushi Productions, where he released
his best work, Astro Boy. With Astro Boy, Many
recognized Tezuka's original style and
approach that was new to the entire industry. The style of his
illustrations and characters came from French and German
cinema. His characters exploded with life and emotion, and his
stories would unfold themselves on hundreds of pages. By 1963, Astro
Boy crossed international borders and was premiered on NBC stations
all over the US and was still successful with American audiences.

After
the success of Astro Boy, Tezuka released another work, Jungle Taitei
(Kimba the White Lion). There was
much controversy in the past about this anime after Disney released a
similar version with the movie The Lion King with Simba as the
main character. Although Disney denies this, many believe that
Disney stole the anime and recreated it with their own version. (To
learn more about the conflict between Disney and Tezuka visit Tezuka's
"Jungle King" and Disney's "Lion King").

Yet with all the success Tezuka
receives, he often confesses that comics are his "wife" and
animation is his "mistress." (Schodt 160). In 1973, two
years after Roy Disney died, Mushi Productions went bankrupt.
However, Tezuka still creates comics and animation with a new
company. Some of his works include Buddha, Hi no
Tori (Phoenix), and one of his more
recent works, Black Jack, which is about an outlaw doctor.
Besides comics and animation, Tezuka is a liscenced physician with a
medical degree from Osaka University's College of Medicine. That
would probably explain why many of his works "are characterized by
their humanism and respect for life... [and] often have a scientific or
medical bent." (Schodt 160)

Later on, other artists came to
take some of the spotlight such as Akira Toriyama, Rumiko Takashi, Hayao
Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and many others. Miyazaki, who works for
Studio Ghibli (or www.onlineghibli.com/), is one of the most famous and most respected anime
artists of today. Some of Miyazaki's works are Kiki's Delivery
Service, Heidi, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and his recent masterpiece Princess Mononoke.

Hayao
Miyazaki (Courtesy of Nausicaa.net)

My Background on Anime and
Manga:

As for me, I have been an avid
otaku (fan) of anime for a very long time. I am more of an anime
fan than a manga fan since I own and view more anime. I
started out with anime ever since I started watching cartoons when I was
little. I was exposed to anime back in Saudi Arabia because
till this day, mostly all of the cartoons they show for children are originally
anime except they are translated in Arabic. I moved here in the
U.S. around 1990, when I was about 7 or years old, and for the next
few years started watching nothing but American animation. I
always thought to myself that the cartoons here were very different from
the cartoons back in Saudi Arabia (I never really knew it was anime at
the time.).

Though I hardly found any Japanese
animation in the states I continued to watch my Arabic translated anime
since we owned a Sony VCR brought from Saudi Arabia. On occasion
when my father would travel, I would give him a list of anime
that I wanted and he would get it for me. Of course, many of these
tapes were under different titles than the original anime from
Japan. Among the Arabic anime I have seen are Mazinger,
Grandizer, Metal Man (Al-Rajul Al-Hadidy), Sandibell, Sally (The Little
Princess), Lady, Captain Majid, Captain Thabit, Ninja, Al-Darba Al-sa
Iqa, Al-Ramyatul Multahiba, and many more. For many of
you otakus out there, you may not recognize these titles.
Unfortunately, I do not know the original Japanese title they were
under. However, those of you familiar with Arabic anime may
recognize some of these titles. Anyhow, that was my source of
anime but it still was not enough for me. I knew there had to be
anime here is the states, I just did not know where to look.

It was not until I found Sailor
Moon which aired on in the US around 1995. I recognized the
style of animation and I was sure that it was not American
animation. That was when I learned that all the cartoons I have
loved were originally from Japan and were called
"anime." I took up drawing and sketching as a hobby
which, and I tried to draw characters from various anime I've
seen.

Around 1998, I came across Cartoon
Network, and I started seeing more anime. I watched more Sailor
Moon, as well as Robotech, Voltron, Ronin Wariors, and many
others. Then I did some research on the internet and learned more
about anime, the different types of anime, and some terms used in the
Japanese pop culture. Along with that, I also learned about manga
and realized that many anime start out as Japanese comics before they
become animated features.

Till this day, I still continually
learn more about anime and manga. Some recent anime I have watched
or have been watching are Ranma 1/2, Dragon Ball Z, Gunadam Wing,
Lain, Princess Mononoke, Tenchi Muyo, Slayers, Weiß Kreuz, and the
latest would probably be Ruruoni Kenshin. I also continue
to draw, developing my own style and forming my own characters, hoping
that someday I will create my own anime and manga. As Osamu Tezuka
was a fan of Walt Disney, I will always be a fan of Osamu Tezuka and
Hayao Miyazaki.

Marwah Zagzoug (aka Shinigami)

Timeline

1914 - Cartoonists were
among the first Japanese artists to experiment with animated motion
pictures.

1918 - Momotaro by Kitayama
Seitaro became Japan's first world wide success. However, the
manga industry was still growing slowly and had a long way to go.

1932 - Before the WWII, Seitaro
released the anime, Chikara To Onna No Yononoka.

1941- The Japanese government used
cartoonist to make comic strips with propaganda to use against their
enemies.

1947 - After
World War II, Osamu Tezuka became a cartoonist and released his first
work Shintakarajima (known in English as New Treasure Island).

1951 - Osamu Tezuka created the
milestone manga, Tetsuwan Atom or Astro Boy, as it was
known in the US. As a result, years later he became a pioneer in
anime, and was the man responsible for the success of anime and manga
worldwide.

1956 - The production company,
Toei Animation, was founded by Hiroshi Okawa and released its first
feature, The Tale of the White Serpent.

1958 - Tezuka furthers his talents
entering the anime world.

1961 - Tezuka founded the Osamu
Tezuka Production Animation Department, which eventually became Mushi
Productions.

1962 - Manga Calendar was
the very first anime to be aired on television.

1963 - Tezuka's Astro Boy premiered
on NBC stations.

1970's- Various "mecha"
anime (anime with giant robots) took over. Among them were G-Force,
Battle of the Planets, Great Mazinger, and Star Blazers.

1979 - Mobile Suit Gundam, the
originial version of the current anime Gundam Wing premiered and
was a huge success which turned into a nation wide obsession. As a
result, the series was released into three theatrical films.

1986 - The artist, Akira Toriyama,
released the series Dragon Ball, which became one of Japan's most
popular anime shows. Later, the series went on forming Dragon
Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT.

2000 - Gundam Wing, the
anime descended from Mobile Suit Gundam, was released.
Along with it came Tenchi Muyo, Card Captors, Blue Submarine 6, and
the short lived Vision of Escaflowne.

2001 - Outlaw Star, the
most current anime to be aired in the US, is showing on Cartoon
Netwrok's Toonami.

WWW Sites

There are countless sites
about anime, some general and some specific. To learn more about
anime history many anime fans, known as otakus like myself, suggest that
one should read Michael
O'Connell's A Brief History of Anime.
This is a very popular and very useful site. Another informative site one
would want to visit is Anime
on TV History. Understanding
Anime is also another useful site to
learn about the various forms of Japanese Animation. This site has
information about the art, character designs, mechanical designs, and
more. One more site to include is the History
of Manga. Unfortunately, the only
problem with this site is that the pictures and images are broken.
Besides that it has some good information on manga, Japanese comics
which are usually how most anime start out as. The
33-year History Of Television Anime: From 1962 to 1995
shows an excellent list of all anime that has been shown in the
U.S.

As for sites non-related to
anime but related to general or American animation, some of the best
sources are to visit are Disney, Warner Bros., Hanna Barbara, and Cartoon
Network. In the U.S., Disney was
a pioneer and was very influential in the animation industry. To
learn more about Disney animation and how Disney started out, I
recommend Net
Disney's Info facts.

Recommended Books

Anime! A Beginner's Guide to Japanese
Animation by Helen McCarthy, Titan Books, 1993.